Men's Ice Hockey

Hockey Downs Plymouth State, 4-1

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's hockey team defeated visiting Plymouth State, 4-1, in a Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference game on Senior Day at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena Saturday.

The Panthers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game. Senior forward Sean Buckley (Sagamore Beach, MA/Lawrence Academy) deflected the shot of sophomore forward Sean Foley (Weymouth, MA/Baystate Breakers) past Tracy just 56 seconds into the contest. The Corsairs rallied to tie the score, 1-1 at 16:15. Junior forward Mike Owens (South Boston, MA/Boston Jr Bulldogs) took a feed from junior forward Andrew Pontes (New Bedford, MA/Winchendon School) beating Panthers sophomore goalie Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden/Rogle BK J20 Super Elite) to the stick side. Sophomore forward Dave McDonald (Wakefield, MA/Valley Jr Warriors) also assisted. Both Tracy and Astedt made some outstanding stops throughout the period on their way to 14 and 12 saves, respectively.

The Corsairs took the lead just over midway of the second period. Junior forward Paul Graham (Quincy, MA/Northern Cyclones) blasted a shot that caromed off of Astedt and fell towards McDonald who one-timed the rebound by Astedt giving UMD a 2-1 advantage at 8:54. The score stayed that way for the remainder of the period as each team had three power play opportunities, which were successfully killed off.
UMD took a two goal advantage at 16:14 of the third period as junior forward Rob Dudley got the puck just past the blue line and streaked towards the goal providing a nifty feed to Stahl who slipped it past Astedt. The Panthers pulled Astedt with just a minute and a half to play and the Corsairs capitalized on the empty net as Hill unselfishly feed Owens for the game's final tally.

"Tying the game gave us a big lift heading into the locker room and our fourth line scored on their first line for the game winner," said Rolli. "We played a smart, intelligent third period and defended a 2-1 lead by scoring two goals. I thought we played a full sixty minutes against a good Plymouth State team. Now we are in the driver's seat to finish the deal."

"They are eight guys who certainly are one of the better recruiting class," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. "They may not have the best win-loss percentage but they see what needs to be done and are playing really well now. It all starts with Tracy. He waited three years to get his shot and he has made the best of his opportunity."

UMass Dartmouth was out shot by Plymouth State, 36-33. Tracy made 35 saves for the Corsairs, while Astedt made 29 for PSU.

UMD improved to 15-6-1 and 10-4-1 in the MASCAC with the victory, while PSU dropped to 13-4-5 and 8-4-3 with the defeat. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Worcester State Thursday evening. The Panthers will host Framingham State next Saturday.